Any Focal owners out there?

CB22

CB22

Senior Audioholic
Anyone here on the form ever owned Focal speakers? Just curious to get your impressions/ thoughts if you have. I see that on Reddit audio communities a good bit of people own Focals and seems to like em. I read this article this evening and the Aria 936 look like some pretty sexy speakers. At that price point I'd consider trying to git rid of my L/R Klipsches.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/focal-aria-936-loudspeaker-page-2
 
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snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
Not an owner but I know the Beryllium (BE) tweeters are on the more expensive models.
 
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Drunkpenguin

Audioholic Chief
I have them in my car. Theyre kinda bright, but sound very good if eq'd properly.
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
I have a pair of the 1028Be, I know at least another member who have the 1038 Be. They do have decent measurements, and I have no regrets so far.
 
CB22

CB22

Senior Audioholic
I have a pair of the 1028Be, I know at least another member who have the 1038 Be. They do have decent measurements, and I have no regrets so far.
Does the bass pack enough punch for you? Or do you use these in combination with a subwoofer? Nice speakers btw!
 
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PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Does the bass pack enough punch for you? Or do you use these in combination with a subwoofer? Nice speakers btw!
Oh yes, I was considering the 1038 Be and in the end decided to go with the 1028 + subs. It turned out the much smaller 1028 Be packs too much bass already in my medium small room all by themselves.

I noticed they were on sale for $4999 (never seen it that low before) not long ago at one place and I wonder if their successor is coming soon.
 
CB22

CB22

Senior Audioholic
Oh yes, I was considering the 1038 Be and in the end decided to go with the 1028 + subs. It turned out the much smaller 1028 Be packs too much bass already in my medium small room all by themselves.

I noticed they were on sale for $4999 (never seen it that low before) not long ago at one place and I wonder if their successor is coming soon.
Nice, glad to her. Too much bass? how about that! Feel free to post up some pics. Always interested to see other people setups.

Bass has been the main let down in both my Klipsch & BMRs. Without a sub they feel dry and treble heavy when playing a low/ medium volumes. But I guess you get what you pay for.
 
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snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
Nice, glad to her. Too much bass? how about that! Feel free to post up some pics. Always interested to see other people setups.

Bass has been the main let down in both my Klipsch & BMRs. Without a sub they feel dry and treble heavy when playing a low/ medium volumes. But I guess you get what you pay for.
What is the size of the room?
 
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PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Nice, glad to her. Too much bass? how about that! Feel free to post up some pics. Always interested to see other people setups.

Bass has been the main let down in both my Klipsch & BMRs. Without a sub they feel dry and treble heavy when playing a low/ medium volumes. But I guess you get what you pay for.
If that happens at low/medium volumes then it is normal. That's why D&M has the DEQ feature.
 
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snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
Room size is ~11x18.

"That's why D&M has the DEQ feature."??
You have sealed 15in subs? Maybe ported 15in subs would give you enough bass. Is the room open to other rooms or sealed?
 
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CB22

CB22

Senior Audioholic
You have sealed 15in subs? Maybe ported 15in subs would give you enough bass. Is the room open to other rooms or sealed?
Ya, I have 1 15inch sealed sub. The room is open to the kitchen. Another sub absolutely wouldn't hurt. But space is already getting tight in here with the 5.1. Don't want you to misunderstand, I'm interested in finding other speakers for 2 channel audio that provide great bass without a sub.
 
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snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
Ya, I have 1 15inch sealed sub. The room is open to the kitchen. Another sub absolutely wouldn't hurt. But space is already getting tight in here with the 5.1. Don't want you to misunderstand, I'm interested in finding other speakers for 2 channel audio that provide great bass without a sub.
Ya not sure that is how I would tackle the problem but I hear ya. :)
 
Cjamrr

Cjamrr

Audioholic
2 years ago, all I had was a 2.0 with a cheap AVP. I decided to go out and buy a center speaker. Which turned out to be an open box item for half the price and thought i was crazy for spending that much.

It was a Focal CC700 and it changed my hearing senses for life. Recently added a JL Audio E112 sub.

I auditioned the Focal Aria 948, 936 and Kanta no. 2. For hours. I thought any of those speakers are awesome. Hoped to hear the 1038’s cause their cheaper now, but can’t find any to listen to.

The Aria 936 i heard very loud with a peachtree amp and it started to distort. I don’t know if that is gonna work for me because i have a 65 percent hearing loss in both ears and i like to play music very loud. Although my hearing aids are 3k each and i almost hear 80 percent.
 
67-79

67-79

Audioholic Intern
2 years ago, all I had was a 2.0 with a cheap AVP. I decided to go out and buy a center speaker. Which turned out to be an open box item for half the price and thought i was crazy for spending that much.

It was a Focal CC700 and it changed my hearing senses for life. Recently added a JL Audio E112 sub.

I auditioned the Focal Aria 948, 936 and Kanta no. 2. For hours. I thought any of those speakers are awesome. Hoped to hear the 1038’s cause their cheaper now, but can’t find any to listen to.

The Aria 936 i heard very loud with a peachtree amp and it started to distort. I don’t know if that is gonna work for me because i have a 65 percent hearing loss in both ears and i like to play music very loud. Although my hearing aids are 3k each and i almost hear 80 percent.
The problem is that you don't listen to a stereo system... all videos, film, events, music programms and music files on youtube are created and recorded only in stereo. So buy a stereo head unit, a stereo amplifier and a stereo pair of speakers and give a try on music recorded past 1967 up to 1979. you can find a complete good quality stereo system on local ads or online vendor for 60$ up to 300$.
 
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Gabor25

Audiophyte
I had a nice pair of Focals 905s for a couple of years.Used them as a second pair of ancillary speakers in our previous home.Our living/listening area had odd dimensions and those little 905s really enhanced the sound in that area.
IMO I think there are better choices in the low/middle price range but their new supra series(big $$$) are superb.

Gabe
 
K

kosmik

Enthusiast
I have Focal Aria 948. I had quite old Monitor Audio Bronze B4 and last year decided to upgrade. I've listened to Monitor Audio Gold, Tannoy Revolution and some Sanus Faber (maybe Venere) floorstanders and was just blown away by sound of Arias. Comparing to them everything sounded "small" and like closed headphones comaring to open ones.

Sometimes when kids are away I play a but with placement, I don't think I've found the best position yet. Currently they are facing center of sofa directly and on some recordings speakers don't blend. When I had them just forward-facing I think it was better on sofa, but outside of it (e.g. near dining table) the nearest speaker sounded isolated.
 
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mtrot

Senior Audioholic
Oh yes, I was considering the 1038 Be and in the end decided to go with the 1028 + subs. It turned out the much smaller 1028 Be packs too much bass already in my medium small room all by themselves.

I noticed they were on sale for $4999 (never seen it that low before) not long ago at one place and I wonder if their successor is coming soon.
Focal seems to be replacing the Electra series with the Aria series. Some would argue that the flax drivers of Aria are a step down from the W cone drivers of Electra.
 
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PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Focal seems to be replacing the Electra series with the Aria series. Some would argue that the flax drivers of Aria are a step down from the W cone drivers of Electra.
The Electra series is the entry level Focal speakers that feature the Be tweeter. I am not aware of any Aria models that offer the Be driver, yet..
 
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mtrot

Senior Audioholic
The Electra series is the entry level Focal speakers that feature the Be tweeter. I am not aware of any Aria models that offer the Be driver, yet..
Sorry, I meant the Kanta line.
 

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